Sexual violence in conflict and post-conflict settings is increasingly recognized as a threat to international peace and security. From conflicts in the Balkans to the Democratic Republic of Congo and from East Timor to Guatemala, state and non-state armed actors have used sexual violence against women, men, and children to intimidate and to terrorize populations, and as a means of displacing people from contested territory, destroying communities and silencing victims. Despite the increased international attention to sexual violence as a weapon of war -- including the adoption of U.N. Security Council resolutions -- initiatives to prevent or mitigate these violent acts continue to fall short. Existing international interventions may lack an integrated understanding of the causes for sexual violence and its implications for societies at large. 

To address this challenge, the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), the Human Rights Center at the University of California, Berkeley, the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), and Stockholm International Peace Research Institute North America (SIPRI North America) on November 1 will convene a group of scholars, policymakers, practitioners, and military and civil society actors to examine the issue of sexual violence in conflict and post-conflict settings, identify gaps in knowledge and reporting and explore how to increase the effectiveness of current responses to such violence.

USIP’s Kathleen Kuehnast previews the upcoming Missing Peace symposium and policy goals for this critical national security matter.  

First, why do policymakers and practitioners need to focus on this aspect of conflict and post-conflict societies?   How is this important for everyone, and not just about women’s issues?

Sexual violence in conflict and post-conflict settings is increasingly recognized as a threat to international peace and security. Although many victims of this form of violence are women, emerging research indicates that the number of male victims of this type of violence is larger than originally considered. It is worth noting that even though there is an increased awareness, it does not necessarily infer that there is an increased incidence of sexual violence in conflict. However, the recognition and the awareness of sexualized violence in conflict, and the ways in which such violence is used strategically as a “weapon” is important to better peacekeeping training, intervention and prevention policies moving forward.

Eight years after the U.N. Security Council passed Resolution 1325, which recognized the inordinate impact of war on women, and also their often overlooked contributions to conflict resolution and peacebuilding, the U.N. passed Resolution 1820. This resolution recognizes rape as a weapon used in war, and as a viable threat to international security. As recent research documents this phenomenon of violence, there are examples of state and non-state armed actors that have used sexual violence against women, men and children to intimidate and terrorize populations, through forced displacement, destroying communities, and silencing of victims.

Why is this particular symposium unprecedented?  What is its significance?

The field of study that is focused on conflict-related sexual violence is often constrained by how stakeholder groups are organized within their own institutional domains—namely that of scholars, practitioners and policymakers. Each of the stakeholders approached the problem with their own specific frameworks. In doing so, they often do not share their “lessons learned” beyond their respective domains, whether it be academia, development nongovernmental organizations, or international institutions. This means that important knowledge gaps exist between such groups. As a result, the knowledge and communication gaps have a direct impact on intervention strategies.

This symposium is especially designed to assist in bridging those gaps, as some of the world’s leading scholars, policymakers, and practitioners on conflict-related sexual violence will come to the three-day dialogue at USIP. Together, these experts will not only have the opportunity to identify the significant knowledge gaps, but because of the dialogue format, the emphasis on listening and learning will be paramount toward developing a multi-stakeholder “community of practice.” This effort will aid in capturing a succinct snapshot of our current understanding of sexual violence in conflict. From there, the symposium will identify gaps in knowledge and reporting that can be addressed to increase the effectiveness of current responses and further professionalize the field. In addition, the Symposium will launch a Young Scholars Network (YSN) – aimed at supporting  Ph.D. candidates and recently minted Ph.D.s in disseminating their research results to the practitioner and policy communities, and connecting them to already established scholars in this field of study.

What has USIP done in the field to promote better awareness of sexual violence?

USIP’s Center for Gender and Peacebuilding has been committed to raising awareness about the issue of conflict-related sexual violence. Since 2010, the Center has applied a ‘gender’ lens to the issue, emphasizing that both women and men must be considered in the analysis of such violence. Moreover,  the dichotomy of “men as perpetrators” and “women as victims” has also been challenged as an incomplete understanding of this highly complex issue. Instead, must be placed into a broader context of a “cycle of violence.”

One of USIP’s former grantees, Dr. Elisabeth Wood at Yale University, has added important nuance to the problem of sexual violence, clarifying that it is not documented in every war. She contends that we must understand what conditions prevent such sexual violence. Wood’s research has also shed light on the number of male rape victims.  In recent studies that USIP sponsored through its Peace Scholars program, research has found that some female child soldiers have also been perpetrators of sexual violence as the result of the rebel militias’ induction processes.

In addition to seeding the field through research, USIP has advanced policy discussions with various events over the last few years addressing the vital role of women in conflict. In 2010, the Center published the book “Women & War,” and held a series of events which brought national attention to this issue. We are hoping the upcoming Missing Peace Symposium will take this one step further to bring an international “community of practice” to focus on preventing conflict-related sexual violence.

What tangibles do you anticipate from this symposium?

This symposium will have several tangible outcomes. Each of the 7 panels will result in a brief that highlights the outcomes of the panel discussion with actionable steps moving forward. What is unique about the symposium format is that it encourages the panelists to engage in dialogue with the participants to create a genuine conversation among experts from all fields. The result should be original insights and new ways of framing the challenges of combating sexual violence in conflict. These will be captured in the after-conference white papers that will be disseminated to the symposium attendees and, eventually, an international audience. In addition to written materials, the organizing committee of USIP, SIPRI North America, PRIO and University of California-Berkeley have engaged  ArtWorks to create a short video that will be a digital ‘snapshot,’ highlighting the goals and outcomes of the symposium.

The ArtWorks film crew will conduct interviews with many of our experts and symposium participants in order to create an archive of state-of-the-art issues related to conflict related sexual violence. Many of these interviews will be made available online for public viewing. A longer video to be produced in the coming months will explore each of the conference themes in more depth. Every panel will also be webcast internationally, allowing others to ‘attend’ virtually.

One of the most important outcomes of the symposium is building a “community of practice” that is made up individuals who of both the Global South and Global North networks. Panelists, Young Scholars, and participants will be given opportunities to discuss issues raised by the panels, and they will be encouraged to share ideas and keep in touch, creating a network of experts that can engage in one another’s ideas to ensure that the study of conflict related sexual violence continues to triangulate data, practice and policy. The Young Scholars Network especially is geared at partnering younger scholars in this field of study with mentors who can provide them with support, allowing these young scholars to tackle some of the toughest questions yet to be answered about why sexual violence is used so often in conflict.

What progress do you hope to see 5 or ten years down the road?

The symposium is not intended to be a one-off event as plans are already in the making for a similar symposium 18 months down the road in the Global South. The symposium is designed so that collaboration continues long after attendees have returned to their respective countries and lives. As the Young Scholars continue their cutting-edge research, they will now have a support network of other scholars and practitioners who can provide input, ideas, and resources to ensure that their work is timely and relevant. The hopeful result is that the next 5 to ten years will see great progress made in the field of study of conflict-related sexual violence. Scholars will be tackling the most difficult questions surrounding sexual violence and, informed by practitioner input, be able to better answer why sexual violence happens in conflict and how can we prevent it. In turn, policymakers will take this new information and create policies which aid in prevention. While ten years may not be enough time to end sexual violence in conflict, we are hoping to have made great strides in that direction.

PLEASE NOTE: Due to Hurrican Sandy this Symposium has been rescheduled for February 14-16, 2013. For the latest on this event, click here.